Android 6.0 Marshmallow release date
On September 29, Google confirmed that Android
Marshmallow would start to roll out to existing
Nexus devices – that's the Nexus 5, Nexus 6,
Nexus 7, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player – from
Monday October 5, so if you have one of those
devices, keep an eye out for the update.
The new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P will come with
Marshmallow straight out of the box,. Pre-orders
for these phones are now open in the US, UK,
Ireland and Japan, with shipping due to begin in
October.
For other handsets, when you get the update
depends on your manufacturer. Keep an eye on
our constantly-updated article
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A battery that works smarter, not harder
Android Marshmallow saves your juice for what
matters most
Doze
When your device is at rest, Doze automatically
puts it into a sleep state. So your phone can still
set off your alarm in the morning even if you
forgot to charge it. Phew!
App Standby
No more battery drain from seldom used apps:
App Standby limits their impact on battery life so
your charge lasts longer.
Greater control for more peace of mind
Permissions your way
No need to give apps access all the time.
Android Marshmallow lets you define what you
want to share and when. Turn permissions off at
any time, too.
Simplified security with your fingerprint
Skip the crazy passwords: The key is at hand.
Your fingerprint unlocks your phone and lets you
securely breeze through sign in and checkout on
Android Pay, the Play Store and even in apps.
Improved cut, copy and paste
When you select text on a current Android device,
a series of confusing icons appears at the top of
the screen, and figuring out what they all do
takes trial-and-error. In Android Marshmallow, the
words 'cut', 'copy' and 'paste' will simply float
above selected text, making the process much
simpler.
It might seem a minor change, but these new
cut, copy and paste options are an overdue
update to one of the most commonly used
features. The new, more intuitive approach
mirrors the iOS way of doing things – and why
not if it works?
Auto app data backup
The new app backup feature on Android
Marshmallow will, in time, be very useful. It
creates a copy of practically everything an app
needs to be reinstalled and pick up where it left
off. All the data is backed up to Google Drive,
from which it can be plucked and placed on a
new or reset device. So all your data, settings
and passwords go back to how they were as if
nothing ever happened.
The big problem is that it only works on apps
targeting API 23, which, at the moment, is a
mere five percent of the top 200 third-party, non-
game apps. App makers also have to choose to
enable the auto backup feature, and many do not,
so you may have to activate it yourself. In time
though, we're sure this feature will be widely
implemented and prove to be very useful.
New app drawer
One of the most immediately obvious visual
changes to Android 6.0 is the new app drawer.
This now scrolls vertically instead of horizontally,
and is held against a white background, rather
than a muted shade of your homepage wallpaper.
Across the top of the menu you will see your
four most recently used apps.
Android M's new app drawer (left) and the home
screen rotation options (right).
Android Marshmallow RAM manager
Google has introduced a new RAM manager to
Android M, with the aim of providing users with
more accurate and comprehensible information
regarding the maximum and average RAM usage
of apps.
The menu can be found in Settings > Apps >
Options (three dots button) > Advanced >
Memory. Though it's a little hard to navigate to,
the page offers a far clearer insight into app
demands, and the overall effect they will have on
your device.
With a reading of an individual app's RAM
consumption, as well as how often it is running
in the background, users will be able to better
determine which apps should be removed in
endless bid to increase device performance and
battery life.
Android M even includes a simple bar at the top
of the page displaying the current performance
status of a person's handset; if it says 'good
performance', you're probably running an efficient
set of apps.
Adoptable Storage Devices
Though Google has in the past tried to step away
from external storage use (the reason why none
of its Nexus devices house a microSD card slot),
it appears that Android Marshmallow is striking a
compromise.
Adoptable Storage Devices is Google's new
storage feature which essentially takes an
external storage source (such as an SD card or
USB drive) and formats it like an internal storage
space. This means that app and personal data
can be moved freely between a devices internal
storage and its 'adopted' storage source.
Adopted storage devices are wrapped in a layer
of encryption to soothe security concerns and
both microSD cards and USB OTG drives are
currently supported.
Android Marshmallow dark theme
Buried within the the first developer preview of
the Android 6.0 settings was a 'Dark theme'
option which transformed the menu background
to a dark grey color rather than the normal pale
shade. At the time, this only affected the settings
menu, not the app drawer, and its function was
purely cosmetic. Still, it looked nice on our Nexus
6 and we hoped it would get developed further.
You can find the dark theme in Settings >
Developer Options (which is enabled by tapping
on your device build number seven times in the
'About Phone' page.)
But in the second developer preview of Android
6.0, that dark theme had been removed by
Google. We're not sure why this happened or if
it's a permanent removal, but we're hoping to
see the dark theme make a triumphant return –
in more than just the Settings menu – when
Android M is finalized.
We're not the only ones. Hernán Castañón delved
into the Android Marshmallow source code to
reveal veiled references to a 'night mode'. This
sounds mysterious, but these traces of code
bring hope that Google hasn't quite renounced
the possibility of a dark theme yet. Perhaps it
even has plans for a color theme that changes
according to the time of day, which would stop
you from blinding yourself with a careless late-
night look at your phone's glaring white screen.
Google Now
Google Now has been improved upon once again
with Android Marshmallow. It is now smarter
than ever, and focuses on three key areas: being
aware of different contexts, providing answers
and helping you take action,
Google Now's context awareness understands
more than100 million different places, so when
you ask "How far is it to there?" Google Now
know exactly which "there" you're referring to.
This awareness is compounded by Google's
Knowledge Graph, which understands one billion
different entities, from sports teams to gas
stations, TV shows to recipes.
Google Now on Tap can provide relevant content
without even leaving the app you're in.
Google Now is also rolling out a pilot program
called Now on Tap with 100 popular apps. Now
on Tap provides Google Now-like content right
where you are, without having to leave the app
you're in. So if you're in Spotify and say "Ok
Google, what is his real name?" Now on Tap will
know you're talking about the musician you're
listening to and provide search results right there
and then.
The same goes for the content of emails. If
someone asks you a question about a restaurant
or to remember something on your way home,
Now on Tap can automatically pop up a
restaurant card with Maps info, Yelp, OpenTable
and the dialer, as well as offer to set a reminder
for whatever it was you were supposed to not
forget.
What you need to know about Google Now on
Tap
Visual Voicemail
Information gleaned from the Android Developer
Preview issue tracker page indicated that
Android M will include Visual Voicemail service
accessible from the dialer. According to a report
by Android Police, it appears that T-Mobile and
Orange France will be the only two carriers to
support the functionality, but more are sure to
follow (after all, Android Marshmallow is still in
its early stages).
A screenshot of the carrier voicemail in the
Android M Developer Preview, uploaded by
Google+ user Danny Hollis. / © +DannyHollis
What is visual voicemail? It's basically how it
sounds: visual voicemail presents your voicemail
with a visual interface, rather than the audio-
based setup like in current Android smartphones
– whereby you call your carrier and listen for
instructions. Though it may seem like a small
addition, the functionality requires cooperation
from carriers, which may suggest why few are
currently on board.
Rotating home screen
A surprisingly slow feature to make it to Android,
the screen rotation function for the home screen
has finally made an appearance. Now you can
use your phone in landscape format both in apps
and on the home screen.
So simple, and yet so overdue. Why has it taken
so long?
Delete screenshots
The second version of the Android M developer
preview added a new delete option to the
screenshot preview in the notifications shade.
Previously you just had the option to share a
screenshot from the notifications. Now you can
delete it as well.
Remove status bar icons
Android Marshmallow brings toggles for which
icons you see in the status bar. If, for example,
you always have Bluetooth on and don't really
need a persistent icon taking up space in your
status bar, now you can simply remove it. The
same goes for the Cast icon, hotspot, Do Not
Disturb, alarm set, work profile, Wi-Fi, cellular
data and more.
You can now delete screenshots and manage
status bar icons.
They're available in the new System UI Tuner,
which needs to be enabled in Developer Options
if you are running a developer preview of Android
M (to enable this, go to Settings > About Phone
and tap Build Number seven times. You'll now
see Developer Options at the bottom of the
Settings menu.)
You can enable System UI Tuner in Developer
Options.
RAM Manager
The memory section is now located front and
center in the Settings menu. We're not sure how
often the average person is going to want to
check in on memory usage, but having it plainly
visible will hopefully mean more people become
familiar with what RAM management is and what
you can use it for.
RAM Manager has been moved front and
center.
Network Settings Reset option
Hidden away in the Backup and Reset settings is
another new feature called Network Settings
Reset. This lets you instantly wipe all of your
network settings, including Wi-Fi connections,
cellular data and Bluetooth connections.
Network Settings Reset lets you instantly forget
all connections.
Storage gets a makeover
Internal storage is always a hassle for
smartphone users. Even with microSD expansion
and USB On The Go (OTG) you always seem to
need to keep an eye on available storage space.
The new version of Android M introduces a
simple line bar that shows how much space you
have on your device with a breakdown of what is
using up your internal storage.
Android M Developer Preview update news
The days of the colored line for storage use are
over.
Android 6.0 official name - Android Marshmallow
On August 17, a Google Developers blog post
revealed the Android 6.0 name as Android
Marshmallow as well as one more information
on upcoming Android 6.0 Marshmallow features.
The changelog for API level 23 details what
these are but as the blog post states:
"Compared to the previous developer preview
updates, you will find this final API update fairly
incremental."
It's official: Android 6.0 Marshmallow is
coming.
How to download and install Android
Marshmallow
If you want to know when Android M is coming
to your phone, then check out Android
Marshmallow update: when will I get it?
Android Marshmallow theme
While there's no Android Marshmallow theme
available for devices yet (that we're aware of),
that's probably because it looks pretty much the
same as Lollipop. However, you can get the new
app drawer on your phone right now, and
download the latest Marshmallow wallpapers, to
get the look and feel. Head to the links below
for those.
Ready for Android 6.0 Marshmallow?
Android Marshmallow is coming to a Nexus
device near you
